Body length can reach 1 m and maximum weight 40 kg. It is covered with large scales. The back is usually blackish, with shades of blue or green, the flanks copper or copper-yellow, and the abdomen whitish. The oral cavity is subterminal, with thick lips. The carp has four mustaches, two nostrils, two eyes, and a snout. On the trunk and tail are swimming pairs (two ventral and two pectoral) and unpaired (dorsal, anal and tail, which have two equal lobes). The fins are driven by muscles, and the fish is covered with mucus and scales. There are two forms of carp: the low-backed carp and the high-backed carp. It is spread almost all over the globe, populating fresh and brackish waters. It lives up to 30 years, sometimes even longer. The largest carp was caught in August 2014 in Thailand and weighed 68 kilograms.
Carp reach sexual maturity at the age of 2-5 years and multiply in May-June. A female lays up to 2.1 million eggs on underwater vegetation, which are fertilized by milk, and incubation takes place after 2-7 days. The brood feeds first on zooplankton, and then, when it reaches 1.8 cm in length, on bottom invertebrates (the main food of an adult carp).
Carp have gill breathing. The gills are well vascularized, located on the bone lamellae, behind some "caps" called operculums. Water with dissolved oxygen enters the carp's mouth. When the water reaches the gills, it releases oxygen and takes in carbon dioxide, then exits the gills. The carp taken out of the water dies.